Abstract
In April 2013 the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 amalgamated Scotland’s legacy forces into a single police force, Police Scotland. Focusing on the distribution of power and role of government in the post-reform period, this chapter examines the conditions or spaces in which police leaders in Scotland operate and discusses the implications for strategic leadership. Drawing on a range of evidence, the chapter examines the ramifications of a centralised political hold on Police Scotland and the Scottish Police Authority (SPA), the two bodies tasked with developing the strategic policing direction. The analysis suggests that reform has politicised the space in which strategic planning is negotiated and, by the same token, restricted the ability of police leaders to set out what the organisation proposes to do and how it will be achieved. The analysis is supported by two short case studies that show how Scottish Government policies on police officer numbers and the absorption of British Transport Police functions into Police Scotland respectively limited the ability of police leaders to develop longer-term organisational strategies.
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Notes
- 1.
Legally named the Police Service of Scotland.
- 2.
The researchers conducted interviews with 11 Chief Constables in Scotland.
- 3.
Under the Police (Scotland) Act 1967, responsibilities and powers of governance were shared between central government, local government, through the local police authorities, and chief constables.
- 4.
‘The Authority must (a) submit its strategic police plan to the Scottish Ministers, and (b) use its best endeavours to secure their approval of the plan (with or without modifications)’(s.34 (6) 2012 Act).
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Murray, K., Malik, A. (2019). Contested Spaces: The Politics of Strategic Police Leadership in Scotland. In: Ramshaw, P., Silvestri, M., Simpson, M. (eds) Police Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21469-2_8
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